Celebritology 2.0 Archive: In Praise Of...

The most recent entertainment news cycle has been a particularly negative one. Christina Aguilera was arrested for alleged public drunkenness. Charlie Sheen is cracking up at a speed so rapid, we need a jet-pack to keep up with it. Americans everywhere -- at least the ones that lurk on the Internet -- have (understandably in most cases) blasted James Franco’s inability to generate a modicum of energy while hosting the Academy Awards. It's enough to make a person start to lose faith in celebrities altogether. (I know, you already did that years ago when John Travolta signed on to star in "Stayin' Alive." Whatever. Just play along.) Well, here's someone to give us all a little hope for the future: Hailee Steinfeld. And while she may have lost the best supporting actress Oscar to Melissa Leo on Sunday night, she still came out a winner for looking adorable and handling...

Thanks, Roger Ebert, for reminding me that today is the birthday of a real actress -- one of the most amazing talents to ever grace the silver screen. A talent who makes the likes of Jennifer Aniston look like amateur hour and is indeed the stuff of which Hollywood legends are made. I'm talking about one of my favorite actresses of all time: Bette Davis. And, although she passed away over 20 years ago, her movies are still required viewing -- at least in my house. In honor of what would have been her 102nd birthday, I offer my top five favorite Davis films: 1. "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" By the time Davis took on the role of an aged vaudeville child star with murderous tendencies, she was herself already considered over-the-hill by Hollywood standards. But rather than turn to the Botox of her era, Davis gamely transformed...

Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan arrive at the premiere of his latest movie, 'Tropic Thunder.' (Getty Images) A lot has already been said in praise of Robert Downey Jr. He's the ultimate comeback kid, giving hope to fallen stars and recovering addicts the world over. And, although in the picture above he couldn't possibly look more like Wayne Newton, it is nearly impossible to snark at this guy -- who has gone from less than zero to iron man (literally and figuratively) over the course of his 20-some year career. Though he came of age on film in schlocky teen fare like "Weird Science" and "Tuff Turf" (and we all know "Pretty in Pink's" Duckie Dale was just a cheap RDJ rip-off) it wasn't long before Downey was leaving peers like Anthony Michael Hall behind to take on more challenging roles and garner critical praise. Parts with...

Defying convention yet again, Snoop Dogg makes the scene at Monday night's CMT Awards. (AP) Bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay, Snoop Dogg's in the [expletive] house. I may take some heat here for giving props to a man who is too hot (hot = packing heat) for most airports and one entire country (Great Britain), but in the past year or so Snoop Dogg -- aka Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr. -- has been quietly ripping a stereotype he helped create to shreds. He's emerging like a butterfly from his Crip-enabled chrysalis to transcend his former image of a gang-banging rhyme slinger. He may not be perfect, but hey, he's trying. Last week he risked a big time street cred reduction when he sat down with the harpies of "The View" to talk about his new album and line of clothes. And while Barbara Walters and Elisabeth Hasselbeck...

Julia Roberts walks the red carpet at the L.A. premiere of 'Charlie Wilson's War.' (AP) Every so often we take a break from the snark, push aside our vitriolic hate of Diane Keaton and get all doe-eyed here at Celebritology central. Like any other average Jane, we're (I'm not putting on airs. I refer to myself and my dog, Page.) susceptible to the charms of brilliant, shimmering star power -- especially when that wattage is the equivalent of green energy. Which is a nerdly way of saying "good." And so today, we gather to sing the praises of one Julia Roberts -- who has again been popping up on red carpets to promote her new movie, "Charlie Wilson's War." She of the big eyes and big smile. She who lives her life largely away from the wack crowd we normally track here. She who pretty much plays herself in...

Jane Wyman at the height of her 'Falcon Crest' reign. (HO/AFP/Getty Images) I don't claim to know any more about Jane Wyman than the average bear. She was a starlet back when "starlet" meant someone who actually punched a clock at one of Hollywood's major studios. She was the first wife of Republican deity Ronald Reagan. And she presided over one of last of the great primetime soaps, "Falcon Crest." It was in this last role that she entered my orbit. As a snot-nosed Army brat living in Naples, Italy in the early '80s, I hungrily devoured tapes of American TV shipped overseas for trade in the ex-pat "Betamax club." These tapes were my first introduction to the sublime canon of early-80s TV -- "The Facts of Life," "Too Close for Comfort," "The Barbara Mandrell Show," "Simon and Simon" and, of course, "Falcon Crest." While "Dallas" left me somewhat...